TRAVELERS REST, SC – The Cliffs Center for Environmental Golf Research, in cooperation with Clemson University, was officially unveiled October 19. What will be a laboratory for first-of-its-kind, industry-leading turfgrass research will produce environmentally enhancing, ecologically complementary golf course and green space management and maintenance practices.

The Center is situated in The Cliffs at Mountain Park, one of The Cliffs’ eight private, master-planned residential communities. Co-managed by The Cliffs Communities and professors affiliated with the Turfgrass Program in Clemson University’s Department of Horticulture, the 5.6-acre site includes research laboratories; two experimental par three organic golf holes grown with both warm- and cool-season grasses; 40,000 square feet of turfgrass plots; and office, meeting and living space for administrators and students.

“We are excited about teaming up with Clemson University on a project that we expect will blaze trails in research and positively impact not only our communities but the business of golf course development and management,” said Jim Anthony, president and founder of The Cliffs Communities.

"The relationship between Clemson University and The Cliffs Communities is a model for the way a public university can partner with a private company to achieve far-reaching, multi-dimensional benefits for students, faculty and the business community by focusing together on the wise use and stewardship of our precious environmental resources," said Clemson President James F. Barker.

The Cliffs Center for Environmental Golf Research will be Clemson’s third hub for turfgrass study. It has locations at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center near Myrtle Beach and at the Walker Golf Course and South Carolina Botanical Gardens on campus.

Mike Harbin, Director of Agronomy at The Cliffs Communities, and Haibo Liu, Associate Professor of Turfgrass Research at Clemson University, will be spearheading the center’s day-to-day activities and overseeing its staff of undergraduate and graduate students engaged in immersive learning.

At The Cliffs Center for Environmental Research, turf plots will be maintained to study the attributes and benefits of different grasses. The golf course-management program will measure additions to turf, such as watering, mowing, aerofying and fertilizing; as well as the effect of turf quality on the surrounding environment, including ground water, runoff and erosion control.

“We could not ask for a better group to collaborate and innovate with than the Turfgrass Program’s faculty at Clemson University,” Anthony said.

Clemson University has been engaged in turfgrass teaching and research for more than 50 years and developed a program of turfgrass study in 2000 as a result of South Carolina’s becoming the nation’s second most popular vacation golf destination over the previous two decades. Clemson’s Turfgrass Program ranks eighth in the nation and third in the Atlantic Coast region. It has five full-time faculty members, 55 undergraduates in the golf course or sports turf industry and eight graduate students working in turf-related research under the plant and environmental science graduate program.  

Research and findings generated through Clemson’s endeavors in turfgrass study are used nationwide through its web site, research publications and presentations by graduate students and faculty at national and regional conferences.

“What Clemson brings to the table for this project is invaluable to its success: their experience and expertise will help us move through volumes of ideas and processes to find the real, positive impacts and solutions,” said Daniel Brazinski, vice president of golf maintenance at The Cliffs Communities. “The beauty of the work that will take place at our center is that positive impact findings can be incorporated into the management and maintenance of The Cliffs’ golf courses instantly – in days rather than years.”

“In five years, I’d like this Center’s findings to prove that, with a team of highly-trained professionals, a golf course can be managed in a way that actually serves to enhance the environment,” Brazinski said. “It’s our hope to share the knowledge that we uncover along the way to those who are interested in using these new techniques to improve their property management practices, whether they be golf courses, athletic fields, green spaces, or private lawns.”

With The Cliffs and Clemson University poised to conduct research that could very well change the landscape of golf course operations in the future, many private-sector companies already have committed or expressed interest in lending their support through access to previously conducted studies and scientific data to serve as benchmarks, as well as other products and resources. They include Syngenta, Bayer, Toro,  Genesis Golf Agri-Business, Corbin Turf, Golf Agronomics, Turf Mountain Sod Profile Products, Harrell’s, New Life Turf, Nature Safe, Precision, The Andersons, Steve Ninemire and Scott’s Seed.

“We have been more than pleased about the enthusiastic reception the project’s received from Clemson and from each product provider with whom we’ve shared our ideas. What is happening is a synergy among experts that’s bound to create a shared knowledge-based environment that will force the best solutions to the surface," Anthony said.

Source: Clemson University